Star Spotting In New York - Dr Phil!

I was walking out of my hotel to grab a coffee and next thing you know, I have walked into a Dr. Phil episode! I thought of standing in the background with a "Hi Mom" sign, but decided against it and instead, took photos like a good Paparazzo does!

A Whole Lot of Nakedness in Times Square!

The Naked Cowboy!!!!! I remember seeing him on the news!! And I was walking through Times Square when I saw a crowd of people taking photos of him.....

He had all of the right moves to show his perfect physique!

The girls were LOVING it... it was hilarious!

And of course I was going to go up and get a whole lot of loving from The Naked One!

Lets just say he whispered something only a Naked Cowboy could whisper into my ear, as the photo was being taken!!! HA HA HA

Hence the look of shock on my face after this!

New York! New York! New York!!!!

I do not know where to begin when trying to describe New York. Someone described it as "vibrant & cosmopolitan, eclectic and steeped in history". Boy, its that and so much more. I have only been here in New York for 24 hours and already i have a whole heap of photos to share. I am also far too tired to reflect on the day's events, so i will share photos and short comments, split up into themes and places. Phew! New York is AMAZING!

100 miles from New York

The boat is about 100 miles out of New York and I am looking forward to it docking. Eight days has been fun, but its time to get back on land and explore New York.

Stay tuned for some blogging over the next few days when i look a little deeper into the "real" New York and find the beauty amongst its madness.

K

Purgatory

Today, I ventured into the gym onboard, finally feeling ready to do a little bit of training. I had slept most of the previous day so my back felt good and I felt energized. I ran all of about 15 minutes on the treadmill, before needing to step off. I was beginning to feel a bit of discomfort in my back. I felt heavy. Nothing felt right. No rhythm, no “zone”.

As I stepped off the treadmill, anger and frustration kicked in. I felt like getting on that treadmill did more damage to me mentally than physically. I wanted to cry. I hated the world, I particularly hated the horse and I hated myself for getting on the darn thing in the first place. I was frustrated because I could barely run 15 minutes, when on the very day of the accident, I was at the peak of my fitness after eight long months of solid training. It is hard to explain and many people out there will want to comfort me and say that “it will take time”. The thing is, I don’t want it to take time. I want to get back on the road and run far, just like before. I want to get on my bike and feel that I could cycle to Malaysia and back. I want to swim that 50m pool, following the black line up and down, as though I could go on forever.

My determination to want all of this back is ever present but my body isn’t ready. I think the frustration I feel now is worse than the frustration I felt lying flat on my back in hospital. I know that it will be this period that I will struggle with. I just hope it’s over soon so that I can get back to doing what I love the most.

It Will Be A "Miracle" If I Finish This Cruise Without...

1. …..an obesity problem.

I discussed this in an earlier blog. The target for the US cruise ship operators are the 40 – 60 year olds who wish to do nothing but eat all day. The day for a cruise ship holiday maker kicks off with a cooked breakfast made up on fried toast, eggs, bacon, pancakes and hash browns. This is of course all dependent on whether they were up til all hours of the morning eating at the 24 hour pizza bar. The next event of the day is lunch, where you have a choice of American, Mediterranean, Mexican, Chinese or Japanese meals. The meal of choice though seems to be the age-old favourite of hot dogs and fries. Lunch doesn’t just start and end with that, of course. Lunch always is finished off with dessert and people have the choice of puddings, jelly, custard, cakes and tarts. You also have an unlimited supply of soft serve ice cream, which you can go back to throughout the afternoon, just in case you are a little hungry between meals. Dinner is a feast, of course, and it involves three courses. That said, the dining staff do not hesitate to hand over extra entrees or desserts when a diner requests them. Another stop off at the 24 hour pizza bar and its fun for all the family!

2. …..a Tacky Staged Family Photo

Every night you have the opportunity to dress yourself up in formal attire, or themed costumes, so that you can take away a very memorable family photo to remember your time on the cruise. This may sound a little corny, but people queue up for the opportunity to gave lovingly into each other’s eyes with a rose in each hand. I spent ten minutes listening to one older lady who was filing a complaint against the photographer, who had failed to photo-shop her husband’s mole that sat on his nose. It seems that these photos are not only staged, but corrected “behind the scenes” to ensure that it becomes a true and accurate memory of your time on board!

3. …..a Discount Which Really Isn’t A Discount!

Cruise ship operators love to give their travelling folk a good bargain! My favourite was the “Embarking Special” for the internet, which gave you 30 extra minutes on the internet free if you sign up for the $100-for-250-minutes deal. Five days into the cruise and the “Embarking Special Offer” is still going strong. Another one of my favourite deals is the “Teeth Whitening Special”, where you can pay $199 for one person and a limited “very special couples price” of $398….! The fact of the matter is that everything on the cruise ship is expensive (except food – which is free) and there is money to be spent at every corner.

4. ……a Raging Gambling Addiction.

The casino runs 24 hours a day, or at least it seems as though it does. You use your “Sign and Sale Card” to play the poker machines – in other words, you sign now, pay later. Many happy sailing customers will have to walk off this boat and pay for all of the gambling that they have enjoyed…and haven’t kept track of.

5. ……an Attitude towards Cruise Ship Staff.

The one thing I love about this boat is that I am surrounded by “my people”. Most staff are from Indonesia, the Philippines or Thailand. As you all know, I have fallen in love with the South East Asian way of life now that I live in Singapore. People from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand have captured my heart and I have begun to learn (and see with my very own eyes) the struggles that they endure in their own home countries. Just today there is news of more bombings in Jakarta. The most negative part of this holiday is this and I have been very surprised at how sensitive I have been about the issue. I have been disturbed by the way passengers on this boat have treated these wonderful, very hard working people. I have listened to the way the passengers speak to them – they demand assistance from them and then disregard them. They leave rubbish, food, plates, anything assuming that it is okay, because it will all be cleared away by the cruise staff. I have been incredibly uncomfortable with being served by South East Asians in this environment. I do not like being waited on by them. In South East Asia, we are all at home, working our own jobs as equals, doing what we need to in order to get by. Here, I feel as though these people are being treated as lower class citizens and I do not like it. These are “my” people. These people are my friends and many in Singapore have become like my family. It angers me. It is wrong. It is something I will always have trouble coming to terms. This is who I am and I do not apologise for it. I have spent extra time speaking with individual staff members, asking them questions about their home, making sure I say “thank you” in their respective languages. It may not be much, but I am sure it means something to them when all they receive from others are orders and commands.

Yes, this has been somewhat of a negative post about this cruise, but I wanted people to know that cruises are not all about crystal clear waters, sun tanning and golden beaches. I am glad that I have experienced it because it has opened my eyes up just that little bit more. After all, this is the reason why I travel. It is not to be waited on at my beck and call, to laze around the sun and eat until I am sick. Rather, it is about seeing the world without rose tinted glasses, understanding that things are not always as perfect as the brochure seems and then, in my own little way, piece by piece, trying to make a difference.

k

Cruising into Nassau, Bahamas

My Birthday in the Bahamas!

I shall let the photos explain what how I spent my birthday in the Bahamas. These photos are of Half Moon Cay, a private island operated by Carnival. I have never seen such a beautiful beach in all my life....








Transferring from the big boat to the smaller boat, because the ship cannot dock at the island due to its size.
















Leaving the boat behind for the day.














Welcome to Half Moon Cay!










Big girl, small boat :)
















Me snorkelling!















The clearest water i have ever seen.


















Me, trying my Sports Illustrated poses.










Colourful Cabanas














Aqua everywhere.











Fun in the sun!













Lots of toys to play with!






















Are we there yet?






















More fun!















Lovely colour contrasts.























Unbelieveable water with sand like baby powder.

























What a great way to spend a birthday!

Blue Skies and Fun in the Sun!

The first two days of the cruise was spent out at sea. Ruth and I were still struggling with a dose of jet lag and so much of our time was spent snoozing in our cabin or (in my case) snoozing up on desk in the sun (with sunscreen and a hat on, of course!). In between sleeps, we spent our time eating at the buffet, making friends with the cruise folk or just practicing the art of simply doing nothing.

Cruising is all about doing nothing. And if you cannot handle doing nothing, you eat. Eating is the main activity on this boat and boy, I have never seen so much food being consumed in my life. I know that a majority of my readers come from the US, and so I must be careful not to appear disrespectful, however I have been overwhelmed by the number of morbidly obese people on this ship. I am not talking about a little round in places, I am talking about people who are gravely ill from weight problems. They do not seem to care though, and their eating habits reflect that. I have wondered whether this is a symptom of a larger problem with American society, or if it is just that cruise ships attract that kind of clientele. I do not make fun of it – I have learnt from it. I have watched what I have eaten, and only enjoyed a few sweets here and there.

On the third morning, we finally reached our first port – Grand Turk. We arrived just on sunrise and like the two previous mornings, Ruth and I were one of the first people awake. I was extra eager this morning, as I had booked to dive at 8am (to give you some idea of how much I wanted to do this, the one of the first things I said to a doctor after the accident was “can I still dive in Grand Turk?”.

Grand Turk is the largest island of Turk and Caicos in the Caribbean. We docked easily and it seemed as though the entire place existed on the fact that cruise ships dock there every day. As I walked (skipped?) off the boat, it was almost as though they said “cue the Caribbean atmosphere” and the man started playing reggae and the local shop assistants put on their best smile. The “Dollars” had arrived. On land, the part of Grand Turk that I saw really didn’t knock me off my feet in terms of interest – it really was just a bunch of nicely painted shops with a whole lot of “kitsch”.

For me, the real Grand Turk was all about what lied underneath.

Grand Turk is said to have one of the largest barrier reefs in the world (the other being, of course, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, which I am yet to dive!). There were only seven of us with dive certification (seven out of about 3500 people!) which was great because it meant that we could spent a greater amount of time in the water. Due to my back issues, I was one of the first in the water, and they needed to hand my scuba gear to me so that I could put it on whilst in the water. This isn’t as easy as it sounds! I managed though, and we all descended down to the first reef, being the Coral Garden.

Within minutes, we sighted a hammerhead shark, something very few people can say they have seen in their diving lives. Thankfully, for our safety, the hammerhead shark seemed more interested in something in the distance and was swimming in the opposite direction but I knew many of us were a little worried that he had a short attention span and would back track on us to see who and what we were. It got the heart rate up and little but not enough to stop me from clicking away on my disposable water camera – we shall see if the photos turn out. Later, towards the end of the first dive, we also came across a nurse shark, another exciting piece of marine life. This time, the shark was sleeping quietly under a rock and did not seem to mind us all watching as he snoozed. Forty five minutes of diving and our tanks were running low so we made the ascent back to the boat for a mandatory “wait” (to allow the nitrogen levels in our body to drop).

The second dive, at Chief Minister’s Reef, was more about the pristine coral than the marine life. We spent another forty five minutes down there and I again clicked away with my camera. I sure hope my photos turn out.

Tomorrow, we arrived in Half Moon Cay, where we plan to swim with sting rays. It is not a tank dive, but more a pool for tourists. It won’t get the adrenaline going like scuba, but I expect that it will still be really fun.

It is indeed my birthday tomorrow, so I shall make sure I have a cocktail or two to celebrate – and that is, of course, depending on whether I can stay awake long enough to do so. The jet lag has really knocked me about!

Next stop, Half Moon Cay!

A Kiss For Old Times Sake

On board, we have made friends with many people, however our favourite is this retired Marine, who was cheeky enough to ask for a kiss!

Babes on Board!